Community challenge #23: The Special One (closed)

Now this is going to be fun. There are some ideas kicking around already…I need to order material!

One of these days I’ll need to get my hands on a shapeoko to compete with the big dogs. (Heh, pun…shapeoko, big…it’s funny I promise)

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Wow, just killer in all aspects. Great documentation, too! That is so sick. Loved your “pin board” for painting misc parts that are hard to hold some other way. I will probably steal that :slight_smile:

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Finally, good timing on a challenge as I just completed a sign! This is a pretty simple sign that is based off of a National Parks sign. There are several versions of it that I’ve seen on Etsy, but I did a mashup of several different designs. I used 3 different fonts and added the sasquatch in place of a tree.

The size is 15" x 22" which is just about the max for my SO3 XL.

My first attempt failed miserably. The end mill came loose and dove down which ruined a lot of expensive walnut. (Sorry, no process pics.)

So, I started over with three new pieces of walnut that were jointed and glued together.

I then masked the bottom and painted it. The top was then masked with 3" blue tape and the whole sign was carved. The bottom was masked so I could spray paint the rest of the carving. It was unmasked and finished using a spray spar poly. It was made for my in-law’s cabin on Lake Huron and I hung it while on vacation there last week.

I used a 1/4" 60 degree v-bit for the letters and a 1/4" downcut end mill for the “Welcome” rough cut, the Sasquatch pocket, and the profile.

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That looks great! The finish on the bottom section is really impressive — I’ve had trouble pre-painting because I always end up needing to sand down burrs/fuzzies. Did you need to do any cleanup, or was that straight off of the machine?

Thanks! This is just straight off the machine. Since I knew this would be hung outside and viewed from a distance, I didn’t work very hard to make it totally smooth. :grin:

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catherine sign

I’ll start by saying that I’ve had my Shapeoko Pro XXL for not quite a full month. With work and kids I haven’t had nearly as much time to play with it as I would like. These are signs for my daughters for their bedrooms. I told them to draw me whatever they wanted to be on them. Catherine was pretty simple with the hearts and her name. Bridget had dogs that looked like our dogs and softballs and food and a lot of other things that I was quite sure I couldn’t do… yet, so I asked her to simplify it a bit. She said just her name was fine. This is literally the 4th thing I’ve cut with it and I was pretty pleased with the results, with the exception of the bottom left corner of Catherine’s border.

I had a 3D Finish tool-path in there thinking it would make things more sharp and instead it started digging deeper into the MDF. I stopped the job, removed the tool-paths that were already complete and the 3D finish and started it again to pick up where it left off. Trying to patch the little hole will be a bit of a challenge but I’m going to let my daughters paint them whatever colors they like so I’m hoping it isn’t as noticeable when we’re done.

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bridget sign

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Carved out all the bits .25 Inch thick, painted them, then inlayed them .1 inch in the pockets I carved them out, carved a loon with a 15 degree vcarve bit. Cut the sign out, then glued it all up. Sprayed with exterior high gloss urethane.

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Incredible work! Very inspiring!

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Island Park Idaho scout camp coasters.

Shapeoko Pro XXL
I planned on these being useful display pieces. I.E. Mini Sign :slight_smile:

Designed in Adobe Illustrator

Using Carbide Create for toolpaths
1/8 EM
60 degree V

Cut out of Vinyl flooring tile.


No cleanup required except for dusting the tops off.


Used a brown stain for darkening the letters

These are donation pieces for the new scout leaders as a memento for participating in events at the scout camp

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New to CNC
I built my Shapeoko 3XXL Pro in March 2021. Since then I have been doing reading and watching a lot to gain information. I wanted to make a sign for my archery shop (my other hobby!) After many hours of deciding and designing, I finally made the choice to give it a try. I must say, I was very pleased with how it turned out. Both sides turned out great. I still have a lot to learn, but this sign did alot for my confidence. I have been making some other signs but this is the biggest at 30" x 24". Very happy with my Shapeoko and having fun.

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Sheriff deputy swat team leader I made this for his family on my shokepo3d

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I’ve had my XXL for 2-1/2 years. During that time I’ve done small things, learning how it works and how to use the software. For almost a year it was disassembled while we moved into a new house and I set up my new shop.

The new house is on a river and my wife has named the place Riverwatch. She said she wanted a welcome sign to hang out front. Yes! I knew right away what I wanted to do.
I made a sketch to show her my idea and got project approval:

Next step was CAD layout. I recently got BricsCAD so this was the first real test. So far I do everything in 2D. I ended up with 5 programs:

  1. 1/4" endmill for material removal at 2 different depths .150 & .300
  2. 1/16 endmill for details at .150
  3. 1/16 endmill for details at .300
  4. 20 deg vee bit
  5. 1/4 endmill for final cut out with tabs

Here all all 5 2D layouts together:

image

One of the reasons I chose BricsCAD was how well it handled raster images. The outline of the heron is traced off a photo that I took from our house:

image

Having everything set, I went to Carbide Create V5 to make the programs only to find that it was a little more complicated than the software could handle. I ended having to split the first 1/16" detail program in to 3 sections so the software would recognize all the letters and pocket around them.

It took just under 6 hours to run all 5 programs. On the first run of the 1/16" detail program I was a little off on the Z setting so I made a quick fix program to take another .020 off. That fixed it. I was pleased with the results:

Then came several hours of sanding. Working around all the letters. Cleaning out the grooves that the 20 deg vee bit made. I left the outside area where the boards are rough and tried to get the inside as smooth as I could.

Next after reading a post about primer and since I wanted parts of it to be gray (and had a can of it), I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum gray primer:

Now came the hard part. I haven’t painted since I was in college (40 some years ago) but I knew what i wanted so I went out and bought acrylic paints and brushes and started. After about 16 hours of painting (and re-painting):

Then as an afterthought I ordered a keyhole router bit so I could hang it.
Finally after a test of how well it worked on MDF, I gave it 5 coats of Rustoleum Painters Touch 2X Clear Matte. It’s hanging on a covered porch, I think it will be OK.

My wife is happy and I got to do what I wanted so life is good.

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Thanks for this info! Didn’t know Inkscape had that function. I’ve spent many hours re-creating paths in fusion to be able to work with bought SVGs from makeCNC

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I have been searching far and wide for ideas on the logo for my business. One day I decided to make a shape of Texas. This is where I landed:
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This is a sign I made for the in-law’s new basement bar. Substrate is solid maple and the tool paths were all made in Carbide Create. It’s an advanced V-Carve with then a textured tool path behind.

I stained the board first, then added 2 coats of spray shellac, applied Frisco Craft blue vinyl mask, and carved through it. Once off of the machine, I added some satin black spray paint, removed the masking and finished it off with 3 coats of Sherwin Williams T77F58 dull-rubbed pre-cat lacquer. This was a last-minute project, so I didn’t snag any in-process photos.

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Wow, that’s the actual sign? It looks so clean I thought it was a render :smiley:. Great work!

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I just scrolled through this and as a newbie got super motivated and discouraged all at the same time. No way I will win this contest but excited to learn and get some inspiration.

The most complex project doesn’t always win, but you should throw your hat into the ring anyways! The contests are always great to see new people enter, and this one is certainly a newbie friendly one!

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